Low calorie diet may help reverse Type 2 diabetes: Study

London: A low calorie diet may help reverse diabetes, which is generally perceived as progressive and incurable, a study has confirmed.

The research, led by Roy Taylor, Professor at Newcastle University, in the UK, confirmed a “Twin Cycle Hypothesis” which demonstrates that Type 2 diabetes is caused by excess fat actually within both liver and pancreas.

Excess fat in the liver prompts it to respond poorly to insulin. As insulin controls the normal process of making glucose, the liver then produces too much glucose.

Simultaneously, excess fat in the liver increases the normal process of export of fat to all tissues. In the pancreas, this excess fat causes the insulin producing cells to fail.

However, losing less than one gram of fat from the pancreas can re-start insulin production, reversing type 2 diabetes, Taylor said.

In addition, if excess food intake was sharply decreased through a very low calorie diet, all these abnormal factors would be reversed, he added.